


Rolling Wave

by clearumbrella



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Not Canon Compliant - The Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24385399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clearumbrella/pseuds/clearumbrella
Summary: To some, she is a symbol of the new world which rose out of the ashes of the old- united and ready to grow. To others, a bitter reminder of the once great Fire Nation now reduced to a humble state living in the guilt of its past crimes. But to everyone, she is an anomaly, a dissonant note, a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit. The heir presumptive to the Fire Nation- a Waterbender? How can that be? The time is quickly approaching for the Zuko’s heir to be announced. Nobody, not even herself, can quite believe a Waterbender will ever be chosen as the next leader of the Fire Nation, especially when her brother is already a Firebending prodigy at the tender age of 14. But it is a choice that must be made- a choice that could tear apart a country, a family, and a young girl struggling to find her place in this brave new world.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

“Slowly, Hazoka. You must feel the energy flow through your body. The movement cannot come from your hand alone, it must begin at your very core.”

“I’m trying, Mother. It would help if I knew where my core _was._ ”

“Hazoka,” Katara stops mid-movement and frowns at her daughter. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”

“I wasn’t joking,” frowns Hazoka. She can feel the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. “You keep talking about my core- but I don’t even know what that means.”

“Hazoka-“

“Whatever, Mom! I haven’t gotten it by now, so I’m probably never gonna get this stupid move. Let’s just leave it alone!”

“No, Hazoka. Bending takes years to master. You’re only 15, you’re being too hard on yourself.” Katara looks into her daughter’s troubled face and sighs. “Maybe we should just stop for the day.”

“Yeah, fine. See you at dinner,” Hazoka stalks off without waiting for a reply.

Her training’s been like this for a few years now. When she first manifested waterbending she was thrilled because she had been worried she wouldn’t be able to bend at all. She was young and naïve, and she didn’t know what the funny looks on people’s faces meant when she would show off whatever new bending trick her mother had taught her that week. But after a while, the whispers became louder and she began to understand what they were saying. _How can a Fire Nation princess be a waterbender?_

At first, she had tried to block out the noise. Just focus on what mom and dad said, that it made no difference what kind of bender she was, as long as she learned to use her gift in the right way. If the Avatar could be frozen in an ice block for a hundred years and then come back and save the world, why couldn’t she be a waterbender _and_ a Fire Nation princess?

But slowly, the voices became louder. People were laughing at her, she _knew_ it… the palace servants, people she saw on the street, all her classmates… they were all laughing amongst themselves at how _weird_ she was, how strange and out of place, how inappropriate she was, a walking oxymoron… and one day without her realizing it she couldn’t block out the voices anymore because they’d gotten inside her own head. And once that happened, her bending, which up to that point had been progressing well, began going backwards. She was trying her best for her mother’s sake, but every time she bended she could only think about how blue the water was against the red of her Fire Nation garb.

So every training with her mother would see her struggling with one move or the other, both of them getting more frustrated and angry until one of them called it quits just to avoid a fight. It didn’t have to be that way, of course. When she was 12 her parents had asked her if she wanted to go to the North Pole to train with the masters there. Obviously, she had said no. If they sent her so far away, they would probably forget all about her. With her parents and Kyzo, the perfect Fire Nation First Family was already complete. They didn’t need her, she just spoiled the picture.

When she had said no to going over, they had offered to bring some masters over to teach her in the Fire Nation itself. But she had said no to that as well. She didn’t want to draw more attention to herself than she already did. Having waterbending masters walking around the palace was just the same as announcing to the whole world that she was a piece that didn’t fit. So, for the past three years it had been just her and her mom in the Water Pavilion, a corner of the palace specially designed for waterbending which her father had built for her mother when they got married. Lately, she had been dreading even setting foot in the place, and she had even dreamed of being stuck in there once or twice.

As she comes out of the passage linking the Water Pavilion to the rest of the palace, she hears footsteps running up to her.

“Wait up Hazoka!” her brother calls. “How was training?”

“It was the same, whatever. Yours?”

“It was pretty good today! The fire sages said that I’m a really fast learner! Even Dad…” It’s hard to stop herself from telling Kyzo to shut up about his training. Everyone’s favourite young prince has a whole army of fire sages at his beck and call, praising his every move and falling over themselves to compare him to their father.

“Are you even listening to me?” demands Kyzo.

“No, not really.”

“What really happened at training, Hazoka?”

“Nothing! Nothing happened. There’s just some stupid move I can’t get, because as if it isn’t bad enough that I’m a fucking waterbender, I’m not even a _good_ waterbender! At least if I was some prodigy then people would say, ‘Well she’s a freak but at least she’s powerful!’ But no! I can’t even have that!” she explodes. It’s not Kyzo’s fault, but she’s just so _tired_ , and he just happens to be the person standing in front of her right now.

“Hazoka!”

“Oh, hey Dad,” says Kyzo sheepishly, looking sideways at his sister. “Uh, I have some, uh, homework to do, so I’m just gonna go…” his voice trails off as he scampers away, leaving Hazoka standing in front of her father, head down, face burning, fists clenched.

“Hazoka, How many times do I have to tell you I don’t ever want to hear you say anything like that again,” Zuko frowns.

Hazoka says nothing. She can’t trust herself not to yell if she opens her mouth again.

“Hazoka, look at me. Look at me!” Reluctantly, her eyes meet her father’s.

“You are not a freak. You are a waterbender and you are my daughter, and I love you,” he says gently, wondering how many more times he will have to have this conversation with her.

“I am a freak. I’m a princess of the Fire Nation, and I’m a waterbender! People are laughing at me!” her eyes well with tears. She hates herself for this, it’s so childish, but she’s never been able to stop the turmoil inside her from spilling out. She’s been told she’s a lot like her father in that way.

“Nobody is laughing at you, I promise.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“I know another waterbender who just happens to be the Fire Lady. Do you think anyone laughs at her?”

“Nobody would dare laugh at Mom. She’d kick their ass all the way to the South Pole.”

“Indeed she would,” says Zuko, with a twinkle in his eye. “And she has, believe me. One day you will too.”

“Not at the rate I’m going,” Hazoka sighs. “I won’t even be able to kick Kyzo past the palace walls.”

“I know you’re frustrated about your waterbending. Trust me, every bender I know has questioned their skills at some point or the other. And the best benders never stop questioning. That’s how they improve. And besides, all bending comes from within. You must know the source of your power before you can tap on it. You need to believe in your own strength as a waterbender before you can make others believe it.”

“You’re starting to sound a lot like the Avatar, Dad.”

Zuko chuckles. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, promise me you won’t call yourself a freak or anything like that anymore.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Good. Because if your mother hears you, she will definitely kick your ass to the South Pole, and I won’t be able to do anything to stop her.”

“If her mother hears her say what,” says Katara from behind them.

“Nothing, she was just saying that she thinks that Toph could take you in a fistfight,” says Zuko, winking at Hazoka.

Hazoka grins. “I was just saying it would be a close fight, is all. See you later,” she says, walking away. Watching her daughter’s back, the smile fades from Katara’s eyes.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do about her. I hate seeing her so… confused.”

“I hate it too,” sighs Zuko, putting a comforting arm around Katara’s waist. “But she’s just trying to figure out who she is. We all had to do it at her age, and we came out of it okay.”

“We barely made it, Zuko. We just barely did. And we had people who knew how to help us. I don’t know how to help her,” Katara tears up, her heart aching at the pain that she sees growing in Hazoka every day. It’s a pain she’s seen before and knows well. “Her bending is actually getting worse because of all this. She’s turning 16 in a few months, Zuko. She’s not an idiot, she knows what’s coming. What on earth are we going to do?”

Zuko’s face hardens. “We don’t need to talk about that now.”

Katara pulls herself free of her husband. “We need to talk about it some time soon. We can’t just go on delaying this forever. We have to talk to her about it. She’s probably been wanting to discuss it with us too.”

“We will, I promise we will. Just… not right now, please Katara? Not right now.”

“Then _when?_ ” demands Katara, eyes blazing. “I know this is a difficult topic but you can’t go on ignoring it forever.”

“I’m _not_ ignoring it!” says Zuko angrily. “You think I don’t spend every free second I have thinking about this? _Agonizing_ about it? I already have councillors coming up to me all the time asking me if they should start arranging the ceremony. This is our daughter we’re talking about. No matter what I- no, what _we_ decide, it’s the start of a painful and difficult path her. I know what that’s like. And I just want to keep her from that as long as I can.”

Katara sighs softly. “I know. It’s hurting me too, Zuko. I want to protect her too. But she isn’t a child anymore. This is her destiny. We can’t keep her from it any longer.”


	2. Chapter 2

Kyzo’s fire blast misses her face by inches. She almost loses her balance, but she spins around and bends the water from the nearby pool in a raging torrent towards him. He jumps nimbly out of the way and sends a series of short fire blasts her way. She can feel the heat of it on her skin. _His fire is so much hotter than it used to be_.

She bends some of the water on the ground into small ice shards and starts pummelling her brother with them, but he quickly melts them all with a large wall of fire. She tries the water whip, but he jumps out of its way and starts running towards her. As she steps backwards, she desperately tries to hit him with a few water blasts but they all miss. Suddenly, her foot hits a rock and she can feel herself falling. But before she hits the ground, Kyzo’s grabbed onto her arm.

“I think we’ll call that a win for me,” he smirks, pulling her back up.

“I didn’t touch the ground yet,” she huffs, dusting herself off.

“Well you were about to,” grins Kyzo. “I can put you on the ground if that’s what you want.”

Hazoka sighs. “Fine, you win. Congratulations.” She pauses. “Your fire is getting more powerful all the time.”

“Thanks,” says Kyzo. His grin fades into a look of concern. “Are you okay? You seemed a little off your game today.”

“I’ve been off my game for ages Kyzo, don’t pretend this is the first time you noticed. I’m beginning to wonder if I ever had a game at all, really.”

“Hey, don’t say that! You’re a really good waterbender, you know that. You’re just in your own head,” says Kyzo earnestly.

“Yeah I know,” Hazoka sighs. She looks at her brother and she can see a question in his eyes that she doesn’t want to answer. “I don’t really want to talk about my bending, okay? Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine. You might wanna find another sparring partner though, someone who can actually put up a fight.”

Kyzo frowns angrily. “Stop it! I love sparring with you, it’s so much more fun than fighting another firebender.”

Hazoka smiles a little. “Don’t let your friends hear you say that.”

“I’m serious! It’s such a different challenge, it really helps me think differently even when I fight other firebenders. ‘Cos I’ve been practicing with you my whole life my friends can’t really get a handle on the way a fight because it’s a little different than the way they do. And I bet it would be the same thing for you if you fight another waterbender.”

“Okay, thanks Kyzo. But the only other waterbender I’ve ever fought is mom and she kicks my ass.”

“Of course _Mom_ would kick your ass, genius,” Kyzo rolls his eyes. “I meant like a normal waterbender. Another kid like you.”

Hazoka pauses. She’s never really thought about fighting another waterbender her own age. Unsurprisingly they weren’t that easy to come by in the capital of the Fire Nation.

“It might be fun,” she shrugs. “But the state my waterbending is in now, they would make short work of me.”

Kyzo bites his lip and sits down next to her. “I know it’s hard ‘cos you’re the only waterbender around here other than Mom, and she’s like a _master._ Maybe if you had someone, you know, a little less amazing like you it would help you practice.”

“Are you trying to help me or insult me?”

Kyzo laughs. “It’s not my fault those two things overlap. Should we go find mom and dad?”

Hazoka stands up. “There’s a Council Meeting today, they’re probably still in it. I guess we could go wait outside.”

“Yeah, maybe we can hear what’s going on!” says Kyzo excitedly, ignoring his sister’s disapproving frown as her drags her to the Council Chamber. They sneak into a small hidden alcove to the right of the main door where there’s a small opening to the air vent. Kyzo discovered it by accident years ago, and he’s been gleefully eavesdropping on Council Meetings ever since. Although she was always afraid of being caught, sometimes Hazoka would come along too, swept up in her brother’s unstoppable current of energy and curiosity.

By the time they get to the alcove, their parents and a few advisors are in the middle of a heated conversation.

“I will _not_ have you implying that my daughter is unfit to be the leader of this nation one day!” thunders their mother.

“Your Majesty, that is not at all what I meant,” says an advisor hastily. “I simply meant to say… well, that is…”

“Why don’t you just come out and say it openly, Minister Chen,” says their father coldly. Hazoka’s never heard him speak this way before, and she doesn’t like it.

“Your Majesty…” whimpers the unfortunate Minister Chen.

“Say it,” says Zuko.

“Your Majesty,” comes another, more confident voice. “I am deeply sorry, but yourself and the Fire Lady must have realized by now the deep unease the people of this nation would feel if their leader was… not a firebender.”

“And what if she had no bending?” snaps Katara. “Would there still be such hesitation? Why don’t you just admit it, Zhong Lee. It’s not that she doesn’t bend fire. It’s that she bends water.”

There’s a silence. Hazoka’s heart is racing. It feels strange to hear the argument she's imagined so many times being said out in the open.

“Princess Hazoka is a fine young lady of upstanding moral character who is possessed of great intelligence and kindness. She is a credit to you, Your Majesties,” says Zhong Lee. “But the inescapable truth is that she cannot lead the Fire Nation without being a firebender. It has never been done before.”

“So non-benders are of no value to us, is that what you are saying?” says Zuko. “That only firebenders are worthy to lead this Nation? Because that is exactly the kind of thinking that we are trying to escape!”

“No, of course not, Your Majesty. Thanks to you and the Fire Lady, we are building a nation where anyone can be a proud and loyal citizen of the Fire Nation. But not everyone can be its leader,” says Zhong Lee.

“You are suggesting that we strip my daughter of her birthright? She is the firstborn, she is the heir to the throne,” roars Katara, and Hazoka can almost hear the minster take a few steps back. “As far as I am concerned there is no argument that can defeat this irrefutable fact.”

“Your Majesty,” says Zhong Lee quietly. “It has been done before. The Fire Lord’s father was himself a second born-”

“ENOUGH!” shouts Zuko. “How dare you speak of that man in this room? How dare you speak of him in my presence! Do you really consider that a precedent we should follow? What other things did my father do that you think we should repeat?” Hazoka can feel the heat of his fury even from outside the room. She doesn’t envy any of the ministers inside.

“This meeting is finished,” Zuko says icily. “I do not want to have this discussion again until I have spoken with my children. Minister Zhong Lee, I would think twice before once again suggesting that we follow a course of action laid down by my father.”

The minister mumbles something Hazoka and Kyzo can’t quite make out. The giant doors creak open and they wait for all the footsteps to fade away before emerging from their hiding place.

“I- I’m sorry,” says Kyzo, his face pale as they walk back to their rooms. “I didn’t… I didn’t realize how serious this… had gotten.”

“Why are you apologizing?” says Hazoka, her heart still beating fast _._ “It has nothing to do with you, I know that. Don’t worry about it.”

Kyzo looks anxiously at his sister. “You know I don’t want- I would never- I mean, you’re the-“

“I know,” smiles Hazoka, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kyzo. This isn’t gonna make me hate you or anything, okay? I promise you that if I ever hate you, it’ll be for some totally unrelated reason that has nothing to do with this. Like beating me too many times at sparring.”

Kyzo smiles weakly. “Oh, you’re definitely going to hate me for that. I’ll see you at dinner, okay?” He waves as he walks off to his room. As she watches him go, her smile fades.

One of Hazoka’s earliest memories is of sneaking into the throne room as a small child. Back then, she didn’t really know or understand where she was, but she knew that that huge chair at the back of the room was where she wanted to go. She’d crawled up into it and had sat there for a while before being found by some extremely anxious looking palace attendants. When her father saw her sitting on the throne, he’d laughed for a good five minutes before swooping her up into his arms. He’d said something, but she can’t remember now what it was. She just remembers him laughing.

She’s never really thought about the fact that she was her father’s heir. It’s one of the most important parts of her identity, but it’s always been something in the background of her life. Like a stream deep in the forest, slowly eroding the earth around it, its melody invisible unless you really try to hear it. As a young child, even after her waterbending manifested itself, she had never thought that she would be removed from the order of succession. But as she grew older and began learning about the world and the history of her nation, she’d begun to wonder.

Of course, she tries to be objective. _It doesn’t make sense to me either._ And she certainly won’t blame anyone for thinking that she isn’t the best candidate to rule. But the thought that her parents might think it too… their love and acceptance of her had been the bedrock of her sense of self. If they set her aside, no matter how unwillingly, that foundation would collapse. She would have to remake herself, if she could even find enough pieces of herself to put back together.

 _Someone should have said something by now._ Fire Nation tradition dictates that the Fire Lord’s heir be crowned before they turn 16. It’s only a few months away for her, but no one seems to be preparing for a large-scale ceremony. The only explanation she can think of is that there isn’t going to be one. Are her parents having doubts? Are they being convinced by their advisers? Unless… they’ve already secretly decided and they're just don't know how to tell her yet...

And then, of course, the question that she doesn’t dare to answer. Does she even want to do it? If she becomes Fire Lord, there will be nowhere for her to hide. The first thing everyone will think when they look at her is that she bends the wrong element. Everything she does is to try and hide that part of herself, to lull people into forgetting that she can never truly belong the way her brother does. She knows her bending is a gift, but the only way she can bear its burden is to make herself as invisible as possible. If she were the Fire Lord, she would be exposed to the world like a scar. She doesn’t think she can bear it.


End file.
